The "China-Singapore Exercise Cooperation 2025" joint maritime exercise kicked off at Changi Naval Base in Singapore on Friday, aiming to further enhance mutual trust and understanding between the two navies.
The joint exercise is taking place at Changi Naval Base and its surrounding waters.
The Chinese Navy's Xuchang, a Type 054A missile frigate, and Chishui, a Type 082II minehunter and minesweeper, are participating in the joint exercise following their appearance at the International Maritime Defense Exhibition (IMDEX) Asia 2025, one of the most influential defense events in Asia that concluded Thursday at Singapore's Changi Exhibition Center.
Singapore has deployed frigate RSS Steadfast and mine countermeasure vessel RSS Bedok.
During the drill, the two navies will conduct a series of drill subjects, including navigating through mine-threat areas, naval gunfire drills against targets at sea, joint search and rescue missions, and medical evacuation exercises.
"The joint exercise is organized in three phases, namely the harbor phase, the sea phase and the closing ceremony. After the opening ceremony, we will carry out ship visits, professional exchanges, and sports competitions during the harbor phase to further enhance mutual trust and understanding between the two sides," said Yang Peng, an officer aboard the Xuchang frigate.
China, Singapore kicks off joint maritime exercise
Highlighting the "Future Energy" as a key direction for China's strategic emerging industries, the country's nuclear energy development, guided by its three-step strategy, has seen major strides in the past year, said a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
In a recent press briefing, Xin Feng, also deputy general manager of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), updated the media on the progresses China has achieved under the strategy.
"China's three-step strategy for nuclear energy development -- from the thermal reactor to the fast reactor and the fusion reactor -- was formulated in 1983 as a medium- and long-term plan. For the thermal reactor, over the past year, our 2.0 version of the Hualong One technology has been approved. This is a unified and fully self-owned intellectual property based third-generation nuclear power technology solution. And the Linglong One small modular reactor also successfully completed its cold-state functional test last year and is expected to be put into commercial operation this year," he said.
For the second and third steps, Chinese researchers and engineers have achieved milestones in the past year with the government support, Xin noted.
"Then for the fast reactor, last year, a closed-cycle system for an integral fast reactor successfully achieved preliminary standard design. We will continue to solve its engineering technology challenges. As for the fusion reactor, in 2025, with national support, we established the China Fusion Energy Company in Shanghai. And our Huanliu-3, a platform for conducting research and development of fusion technology, made a big stride, with an iron temperature in it achieving 117 million Celsius and an electron temperature reaching 160 million Celsius. We will continue to adhere to the development strategy and focus on technological research and engineering technology development," Xin said.
The fourth session of the 14th NPC and the fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC kicked off in Beijing on March 5 and March 4, respectively.
The "two sessions" -- which refer to the annual meetings of China's supreme organ of state power, the National People's Congress (NPC), and its top political advisory body, the National Committee of the CPPCC -- are a key event on the country's political calendar and offer a window into the country's development direction.
China's nuclear energy development makes great strides with three-step strategy: CPPCC member
